Dust-proof journal-box for cars.



UNITED INSTp/iffres PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ROGERS, OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS.

DUST-PROOF JOURNAL-BOX FOR CRS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 721,836, dated March 3, 1903. Application tiled March 10, 1902. Serial No. 97,4011. (No model.)

To all whom t may. concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ROGERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Wyandotte and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dust-Proof Journal-Boxes for Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to dust-proof journalboxes for cars; and my object is to produce a device of this character having a dust-guard at its rear end which may be removed and replaced without necessitating the removal of the box from the journal, and therefore without requiring the car to be jacked up, as is now customary.

A further object is t'o produce a sectional dust-guard for the box and press said sections yieldingly together and against the journal,- and thereby effect a snug tit upon the latter as long as the guard is in service.

The invention consists, essentially, in a journal-box of any suitable or preferred type having the usual dust-guard chamber, but having said chamber open at its sides instead of at its upper end, as is now the case, apair of sliding plates normally closingsaid side openings, a dust-guard split vertically to provide sections engaging the journal from opposite sides, and a pair of springs interposed between the outer edges of the dust-guard sections and said slide-plates and holding said sections pressed yieldingly toward and against the journal.

The invention further consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and combinations of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of a dust-proof journal-box embodying my in vention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view detached of the dust-guard proper, the plates for clos` grooves so tightly that it is impracticable to either place them in or remove them from position without the use of a hammer or equivalent tool, and. to facilitate their removal they are provided at their upper ends with outwardly-projecting arms 9 to receive the blows or sharp taps of the tool, or they may be provided with holes 10 above the top of the box, into which a pointed tool or chisel may be insorted and then struck by a rock or hammer.

The guard proper, which lits in the dustguard chamber, is ordinarily simply of Wood with a hole in it to receive the journal and obviously, therefore, will fit the latter snugly only for a short time.

My improved dust-guard, while composed of wood or equivalent material, is made in sections or halves ll, provided with semicircular holes l2 and with vertical tongues 13 at their inner edges, said tongues being conjointly equal in thickness to the guard and so disposed that they overlap each other slightly when the guard is rst placed in the box and gradually mn re and more as the semicircular holes l are worn deeper by the frictional engagement with the journal. The guardfsections, which obviously must be introduced into the dust-guard chamber from opposite sides of the journal, are pressed yieldingly together by means of semi-elliptic springs 14E, having a pin-and-slot connection,

as at 15, with the outer edges of said sections IOO service, because' its sectional construction permits it to be maintained by the springs in a close frictional relationship with the journal. It is also obvious that it possesses the other advantages enumerated in the statement of invention and that its cost, taking into consideration the fact that it can be secured in or removed from position without jacking up the car and removing t-he journalbox,will be materially less than the ordinary type of journal-box. It is also apparent that my improved journal-box for cars possesses the desirable features of simplicity, strength, and durability and that its use will result in the elimination of a great deal of unnecessary wear upon the bearings and in the saving of considerable oil and lubricating-waste.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of a journal-box having in its sides vertical openings or slots registering with its dust-guard chamber,with the walls of such openings or slots vertically grooved, a dust-guard occupying said chamber, consisting of two vertical sections having substantially semicircular holes in their inner edges and having above and below said holes overlapping tongues, which conjointly equal the thickness'of the dust-guard sections, the width of such tongues being such that when such semicircular holes fit snugly upon the axle, the tongues overlap for only a part of their width so as to permit the sections to move inward or toward each other as the holes thereof increase in depth by frictional engagement with the revolving axle, a pair of vertical plates fitting slidingly in said grooves and closing the slots or openings of the boX, and springs interposed between said plates and the dust-guard sections so as to force the latter inward as said holes increase in size.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature in the presence ot two witnesses.

JOHN ROGERS.

/Vitnesses:

H. C. RoDGERs, G. Y. THORPE. 

